Mazmur 139:23

139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! ¹ 

Test me, and know my concerns! ² 

Amsal 15:11

15:11 Death and Destruction ³  are before the Lord –

how much more ⁴  the hearts of humans! ⁵ 

[139:23]  ¹ tn Heb “and know my heart.”

[139:23]  ² tn The Hebrew noun שַׂרְעַפַּי (sar’apay, “concerns”) is used of “worries” in Ps 94:19.

[15:11]  ³ tn Heb “Sheol and Abaddon” (שְׁאוֹל וַאֲבַדּוֹן (shÿ’ol va’adon); so ASV, NASB, NRSV; cf. KJV “Hell and destruction”; NAB “the nether world and the abyss.” These terms represent the remote underworld and all the mighty powers that reside there (e.g., Prov 27:20; Job 26:6; Ps 139:8; Amos 9:2; Rev 9:11). The Lord knows everything about this remote region.

[15:11]  ⁴ tn The construction אַף כִּי (’af ki, “how much more!”) introduces an argument from the lesser to the greater: If all this is open before the Lord, how much more so human hearts. “Hearts” here is a metonymy of subject, meaning the motives and thoughts (cf. NCV “the thoughts of the living”).

[15:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the hearts of the sons of man,” although here “sons of man” simply means “men” or “human beings.”